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Hellooooo All,

Looks like you had a wonderful stay at Wishtoyo – yay!   Thank you for posting images of the beautiful things you made and some gorgeous shots in Malibu.  Tonight we will continue to think about culture…what it means to you and blog about it.

What are three aspects of of Indigenous Culture/Community that prepare you to be successful and lead a meaningful life and why is each one important to you (i.e. talking circle, songs, sweat, ceremony, language, ancestors, etc…)?

How does Cultural Knowledge and Participation in Ceremony help to prepare you for college and furthering your education?

How do they prepare your for giving back to your community in the future?

At Wishtoyo I made a dog bane necklace, a thin one, Mati then carved out my dolphin shaped abalone piece. It was a long process and my piece was the last one to be finished because it was difficult to cut out. I had such an amazing time learning how to make a dog bane necklace and picking out the perfect piece to draw a design. At first I didn’t know what to draw but when I asked Mati he immediately knew what to make. And the color of the Abalone shell was so perfect for the Dolphin design. It turned out beautifully.

The lessons I learned at Wishtoyo was never leave something alone for to long or someone might grab it thinking it was left over. It happened to me last year when I left my tobacco container sitting on the table and this year when I left my dog bane necklace lying on the table waiting for my abalone piece. I mean i got them back but the freaking and looking everywhere for it was enough for me to stop misplacing my things. Another lesson, I learned was to always remember and appreciate the things given to you and the way others react when you give them something, it could mean so much to them that you wouldn’t even understand.

My favorite cultural experience is just being there. Even for one day I still loved being there, it felt like home. When we arrived everyone was just instantly filled with love, happiness, and memories. I wanted to break down when I saw everyone at Wishtoyo and when my old mentor arrived, I felt so much happiness and was so grateful that she showed up. At the beach it was so amazing the water was kind of cold cause of the overcast but it was so fun to just chase the waves and run away from them, even if I was wearing jeans. All the elders speaking and telling creation stories or past memories made me feel like a Native American before the giant disaster of the discovering of America. But the past is not something to regret. The past is something to grow from, something to heal from. It just depends on how we try to heal the hurt that is built around each and every one of us.

1) The crafts that I made were a neckless that I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to finish because my stone broke but I still had fun making it and a clapper stick witch was real easy to make since it wasn’t my first.

2) The lesson that I related to the most when I made the neckless because once Ray showed me I really got the hang of it.

3) My over all favorite cultural experience had to be when we stayed in the ops because I never stayed in something like that and just knowing that he made all of those thing by hand is cool.

What a wonderful day and a half we had at Wishtoyo! I am definitely thankful to have gone back once again because the last time I went was one of the BEST experiences of my life. Learning about the Chumash culture and living in the village for as long as we did was a true blessing. I am also very grateful for the opportunity to return to this program as a mentor for not only my benefit but for the benefit of the students who I have been lucky enough to build a relationship with.

While at Wistoyo, I made an abalone necklace which is very sacred to the Chumash people. The last time I came, I made an abalone shell basket and this time I got to carve a necklace design which was super awesome and enlightening. I also got to make a clapper stick out of an elderberry branch from scratch which was an entirely new experience for me. I have made two clapper sticks in the past but they were already cut out for me (all I did was design it) but this time, I got to carve it out myself in addition to designing it.

One lesson that I will take away with me and share with others is the idea of saying out loud what I am thankful for and what I am looking forward to in the future. It’s not often that I get to do that, which might be one of the reasons I get down on myself sometimes. Even though I occasionally pray to my creator, I do not get to talk to myself about what I am thankful for. So I think it is really important for everyone to remind themselves what blessings they have received in their lives in order to make them hope for greater things in the future.

My favorite cultural experience was morning ceremony. It was the most awake I have felt my entire time at the program and I felt nothing but exciting energy. I came out before 7 AM with my clapper stick and my love…which made my happy to be awake and sharing my happiness with others. As soon as we all stood in a circle, I felt nothing but beautiful blessing and I could not have asked for a better morning (plus the weather was SO BEAUTIFUL and PERFECT that I did not want to leave ever again!!)

I made a really cute heart necklace out of a abalone shell and used dogbane for necklace string. I also made a matching anklet with Jessica, we used dogbane and and a tiny sea shell for a cute detail.

The thing i related to the most is the respect of the sil`i`yik. I relate to it because in the pow wow world I was told by my elders not to walk or go across the arena and to walk in the way of the clock and also was told to enter at a certain part of the circle depending of the season.

My favorite cultural feeling part was staying in the ops. I liked staying in the ops because i kinda got a real feel of how some of the Chumash or maybe my ancestors lived.

This was such a great experience for me. Even though the visit there got cut short, meeting those few Chumash people was a true honor. Sharing their songs and teachings with us and helping us make crafts, Im so truly thankful.

1) I made both the crafts. I made a abalone shell necklace, I carved the abalone into the shape of a turtle with the help of Mati. I also wrapped the Dog bane after I peeled the bark, making the necklace. It took me about 3 hours to make but it was worth every minute. It’s so perfect, I just love turtles so much and I’m defiantly going to cherish my necklace forever. The Clapper Stick was so fun to make, its hard to explain but my favorite part was using a magnifying glass to burn designs into it. I love it!

2) The sacred fire, representing mothers. That was my favorite one, Im feeling a little homesick for my mom right now. So learning about the teachings of the fire defiantly made me miss her 100x more! Im am so thankful for the Pitzer Pipeline Program, its not just helping me prepare for college. Its helping me Appreciate my family much more.

3) I got to share a Peyote song with Kaydee’s father, Dave, and he told me so many things about his culture compared to some of the Sioux Culture. I was so grateful, I love Kaydee (our Western U teacher). Im glad i became close with her)

1. I made two of the crafts. I made a necklace made out of the bark off of a branch called dogbane. That was the chain part of the necklace and for the jewel part i created  a shape with a colorful shell and i sanded it and i made it look shiny with water sand paper. Another thing I made was a clapper out of a piece of wood.  I enjoyed making those traditional things. Learning how to make a piece of art from another culture i guess you could say was an amazing experience. I hope to have many more experiences with different tribes.

2. The teachings i related to most would be the way they enter there sacred land you have to honor you tribe when you walk on it. I related to that most because in every sacred land you kind of have to honor your land it a thing that doesn’t have to be spoken i think.

3. My favorite cultural experience the entire trip was when we were telling stories around the camp fire.

At last, yesterday morning we arrived at Wishtoyo. We were greeted with a small ceremony which led to a big one, and every person involved was excited and somewhat anxious for the day. After the ceremony, we all got right to the crafts. Mati hyped me up by showing me the staff he created with burned on prints via magnifying glass. I immediately knew what I was going to spend time on that day. I chose a dog bane stick and proceeded to splitting/shaving. Once sanded down, I asked Mati for his magnifying kit and sat in the blistering sun for a solid hour. I felt the beauty of taking time on an object that contains meaning. This clapper stick will be the entity in which thousands of memories and prayers will be brought with me back home. When people ask me about the stick’s story, I will share with them the process of creation through the reality of transformation. The dog bane stick, like all other life forms, contains a spirit which I believe can be morphed. I didn’t make the stick, I simply shaped it. Now, the stick will shape my life. Simply by taking time on it, wielding it, and loving it, the path of my life has been altered.

Aho

On the day we left campus, I woke up at 4 in the morning to get ready.  I was excited and cranky at the same time.  I was worried about not using any of my electronic devices for the two days but once I got there, it felt as though I was at home in a different environment.  Although it doesn’t make sense in what my emotions attachment to that place was, it was an incredible experience.  When I heard we are doing some abalone pendants, it reminded me of my great uncle.  He does those pendents so impeccably that if attempted to duplicate, it will come out differently than the actual product.  I don’t know how many times he’s done those magnificent pieces of tapestry but he seems as though he’s done it thousands after thousands of times.  There are no words to describe my attempt into doing those pendent except terrible.  My piece seem as though they were scribbled on there by my baby brother.  Maybe Joel could even do better than me.  I don’t mean to criticize myself but Id rather be honest to myself.  I tip my off to you Uncle Ervin. (If that is, you’re reading this)

During a ceremony, Montie made an eloquent speech of this world’s turn to becoming more modern.  There are barely any people that actually respect the environment and habitats of animals.  Sure there are people that make some sort of an effort into making the world healthier and a better place to live in but our airs are still polluted and animals’ habitats being destroyed by lack of water and fires and demolition for commands of more housing and so on.  There are various of things people can change to make things slow down but the damage has been done and the Earth has been affected devastatingly enough.  That little inspirational speech made me realize the reality of this sort of thing but that doesn’t mean our culture can die along with this event.  We can still keep out Native culture alive and stop dwelling on the past.

I love last night’s story telling because no matter how much Montie tried to make his story seem scary and true, most  of us were laughing…. especially me.  I didn’t find any of those stories scary except Pedro’s if he actually told the scary version.  He thought the details of contents were too “scary” for all of us.  Oh well.

1. At Wishtoyo I was making a bracelet with an abalone bead and dog bane? but I didn’t finish it because it took too long. The experience was fun but it took too much patience to finish so I stopped making it.
2. The thing I really paid attention to last night was when the elders were saying that they are expecting us to help our communities when we’re older and we need to keep our traditions going in our tribes. That made me realize that it is going to be up to us to learn our traditions and teach it when we are older.
3. My favorite cultural experience was last night when we were in the arbor talking or morning ceremony this morning and all the hugs. The flood song still needs improvement, yesterday it was too slow, we’ll get it right haha. This morning I almost cried when we left because I won’t be coming back next year, I’m happy to say I didn’t, but I probably will before we leave to the airport.
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mediacommunity/19743033128/

Me in a dress:0 never again just kidding but I probably won’t wear one again anytime soon. I look kinda mad but it was just bright.